So many times I’ve wanted to thank you for being with us, and for your support on wOw. Now is a good opportunity, as we are excited to announce that wowOwow is moving to a new platform next month.

We are taking our fabulous voices and cast and joining Sirius XM Radio for a weekly, live show that will air on the Stars Channel 107 at 11:00 AM EST every Wednesday.

Our website will remain with all our past content accessible here — and we hope that you, our community, will continue to stay as vocal as you’ve always been. Dear Margo will appear on Thursdays and Fridays, and for the latest from Liz Smith, Mr. wOw and Peggy Rometo, we will provide and link you to their own columns. Breaking news and fresh content will always be available here.

Our first radio program starts on April 4th, and will feature co-hosts Lesley Stahl and Cynthia McFadden; their guest will be media mogul Barry Diller. Tune in!

(And if you haven’t signed up yet for PureWow for a free, daily wOw every day: click here)

50 comments so far.

It’s a crying shame that the powers-that-be on this site, which once was one of the few (if not the sole) internet forums, on which mature, intellectual, evolved women could discourse freely on a wide range of subjects, have chosen to virtually abandon it for the far less appealing venue of talk-radio. Perhaps this was an egocentric choice driven by a need for more personal exposure, or perhaps they simply lacked the energy, imagination and inclination to handle the various spirited debates that arouse…or the occasional criticisms of the methodology of the monitors and the biases of the columnists. I suppose it’s much simpler to hang up on a caller whom one doesn’t agree with than to monitor threads on a website for subversive commentary.

In any case, the site has devolved into a shade of its former self. I adore Mr. Wow, and enjoy reading Margo’s column, and there are certain readers whose commentary I greatly admire, or I would have fled for more abundant pastures long ago. This sad finale has been long in the making as the founders began pushing columns that were ever more ageist, conformist and unimaginative…and suppressing posts that questioned their intent.

I believe that wowowow as a website will eventually drift into obscurity, and that this will be the desired endgame. Until then, I will remain loyal to darling Mr. Wow, Margo, and even Liz Smith, and certain fellow readers whom I’ve come to respect and deeply like.

I had never actually investigated PureWow before today. Why would I be interested in an email update for “Women of Substance”? It doesn’t even cover my city (Houston, yes, I know it’s merely a cow town, dears) specifically, just LA, New York and Chicago (I suppose the latter was thrown a bone because Oprah calls it home, and she’s rich and much lauded). What is a “woman of substance”…a person of wealth and social standing? Why would a chance at $1000 from Crate & Barrel be a temptation for me?

Thank you for giving me a moment of clarity regarding the disintegration of the website, and the true interests and commonalities of the powers-that-be…and these have nothing to do with intellect, imagination, evolution, and freedom of expression. If you have even a modicum of integrity left, you’ll let my comments on PureWow and the sad fate of a once excellent site stand.

Hi Joni . . . more mail than you might imagine has come in from “the best of the best” — the original commenters on WOW — who have mostly gone off to fresher fields by now but still express sorrow and sadness that the close friendships that we formed – friendships that often glued us together as has not happened before – were over or – well – never the same as in your golden years of WOW.

Complaints can flow in, but I DO believe we have to thank the WOW women for forming a website that drew a host of the most caring, intelligent women (and a few great men) like bees to honey.
You provided a service daily for us, a venue to share our views, learn from others, and reach out as only good friends seem to do. For several years it was magic.

BUT what others seem to fail to realize is that – while this was a free service to us — there are huge expenses in place, along with such creative office help to come up with a wealth of subjects that would gather those of like mind and bond them. WOW is and was a business as every other major website is. . and unless it proves lucrative, the owners have to move onward and upward.
And so they have. Competition has increased in those years — even Marlo Thomas’ site that I wrote for has been eaten up by Huffington — and that is only one example but one we are more familiar with.

My world has been one of business. . . but in all directions our own lives have changed so rapidly in the past few years that we find ourselves often stunned. This isn’t the world we lived in for so long. Smart women see the signs and try out new directions. . before the others get there. I am sure that is what the owners of WOW are doing. . . and while I feel sadness for the commenters joint loss, I see no reason why we do not wish them well as they forge forward. As for us readers, each of us has choices in what they are projecting as new endeavors – try them out or move on.

Let us not forget that what was the best site in the world for us at one time we should be thankful for. But WOW is and always has been a business – and businesses are in place to make profits.
If they cannot, there are other windows to the larger world to open. And so they will.

So Joni and all our special friends whose photos flowed across the top of WOW, I just want to say that our lives were touched by this site — and so, so many thanks. And I wish you all well in your new endeavors.

In the meantime, if anyone out there has found WOW’s equal in the Internet world, please let the rest of us know! It was a blast!!

My Dearest Joan (who is one whose commentary I have sorely missed): the progenitors of WoW are not leading…they are following, and far behind the times in terms of running a successful business catering to…something. Someone. I don’t think that their reasons for abandoning the original precepts for WoW are strictly financial at all, or that the website became less than cost affective. It was a remarkably busy and active site…then the creators abruptly switched the site format, the content and the entire attitude of the site. Readers expressed concern…but held on, hoping for the best. Then, the site took another turn for the worse, with a persistent thread of ageism, insistence on conformity, and articles, columns and essays all relating to either “maintaining one’s youth” or “dressing, behaving and and adorning one’s self in age-appropriate ways (in other words, like the used up hag one was)”. This is when the true dissolution began, and former readers began retreating, never to be heard from again. The site became, for a while, a haven for cretins and ninnies who were barely literate, nasty and insulting to anyone with an actual intellectual stance.

Then almost all of the major contributors vanished as well, as did all of the articles, columns and essays, except Margo, Mr. Wow and Liz Smith (I don’t count the weekly astrologer’s report. Good grief). The readership became a shadow group.

This wasn’t financial, Joan. It was a deliberate undoing of what appeared to be a very successful venture for what I believe to be very personal, and very snobbish reasons. The new look of the site in its second incarnation, with its perpetual focus on who lunched with whom, and at what ridiculously pricey venue, and who had the best outrageously expensively decorated kitchen, or Thanksgiving meal complete with $1000/oz. caviar, and how to appear taller, thinner and more perfect by means of stupidly costly products and loathsomely uncomfortable and unrealistic means took a heavy toll. Comments dropped off precipitously, and many readers who did respond had a distinctive how-the-hell-are-we-to-respond to-THIS tone to their posts. Any or every-woman could no longer relate to women who paid $1000 for a haircut, or was Auschwitz thin and wore five-inch spike heel Manolos with skinny, pointy heels. Or whose place settings cost $1500 each. The site owners had to know what they were doing…which was chasing away those who they must have found…less than worthy. They did a remarkably good job of it, I must say.

I was a small business owner for nine years. It was not easy, ever. The one thing that I learned is this: you do not take an entire box of laxatives, and use it as an excuse to dump fecal matter all over your loyal customers. You are honest with them. If finances are a problem and you’re in the process of closing down, you tell them, you don’t make them feel like parasitic little peons.

And this is far from my only internet venue…I just find the changes here and the obvious lack of concern and the obvious snobbery repellent. Excuse it as a business issue if you will…but Joni et al remind me of the IT girls in high school…just as self-centered, just as mean.

Briana, Joan, everyone with something to say… who’s to say we can’t make our own place of discourse, if we want? We may not have Liz Smith’s access, or Margo’s advice column – but don’t we have brains and interests? Why not toss real, substantive subjects out for discussion in a place of our own?

Well, it seems that WOW will continue, though some of the most popular content will be accessed by links. I’m OK with that. Perhaps it’s a way of trimming costs, but still providing content geared to the mission of the site. I’ve really enjoyed the exchange of opinions that resulted from many articles. And I’ve enjoyed that the site had no ads. The satellite radio program is likely an inexpensive way to disseminate ideas on another medium.

I am so sad. I have loved reading wowOwow so very, very much. I enjoyed reading Liz every morning to see what event she had attended and who was doing what to whom! As for Mr. Wow, he means more to me than I can explain. His hilarious and yet meaningful columns have been my very favorite part of this community. I have enjoyed commenting and trying to be as intelligent in making my opinions known as so many of these good people. I will miss reading Baby Snooks, Briana Baran, Rick Gould, Lila and Joan Larsen’s beautiful essays. I think I have learned good things from everyone. I wish everyone well on SiriusXM and will listen from time to time. I will continue to check in every day.

You know – the biggest attraction to this site, for me, is the other commentators here, the “regulars,” whether they are relative newcomers or long-established visitors. THEY are what give the site its feeling of community and I like reading their thoughts just as much – or more – than the original articles that they are commenting on. And Liz Smith, Margo, and Mr. Wow are pretty much the only faithful contributors left to get those substantive discussions started these days.

The other big appeal was the “for women of substance” angle, which sadly DOES seem to have been gradually replaced by advice for the dilapidated, on how best to hide their dilapidation. With the loss of Liz Peek, it seemed the site began its slide toward lobotomization. I almost never agreed with Liz Peek’s views, but her topics in politics and economics were definitely substantive. And while the discussions could sometimes get a little… shrill… they did attract a lot of insightful, intelligent commentary.

So what gives? You had a format that attracted a lot of eyeballs, and eyeballs on ads means revenue. If readership has fallen off in the last several years, it’s due to the change in focus and the lack of substantive issues to read about and comment on. Why not re-establish that?

Liz Peek. Whose sole complaint, apart from Obama, seemed to always be the price of asparagus in Paris. But, well, we all do have to worry about it on our jaunts to Paris I suppose. Prices at the pump are based on the price per barrel. Prices at the restaurants in Paris are based on the price per bunch. Of asparagus that is. And with the cost of airline tickets, or the jet fuel if you have your own jet, those prices at the restaurant become important. But, well, some of course are more concerned with the price of potatoes. Having given up asparagus a long time ago. Along with going to Paris. Or anywhere else.

Liz Peek always reminded me of that interview with Betsy Bloomingdale during the energy crisis of the 70s. Doing her part to conserve energy. Instructing her servants to run the self-cleaning ovens only at night. Every night of course. There is something elegant I suppose in vapidness. Unless you are not lucky enough to be rich enough to be vapid.

Briana, I too will miss the site in its current state and have greatly enjoyed reading posts from the “regulars.” I look at this format change as merely a case of “all good things must come to an end.” Nothing lasts forever. Your reaction does seem a bit extreme. You are taking this change in format very personally and it appears as though you are experiencing abandonment issues regarding losing the WOWOWOW “family.” I am not surprised that you feel “abandoned” as you have revealed much of your life in your posts. You are a very intelligent woman, but seem to have much baggage from a traumatic upbringing. I think that if you examine your feelings of anger and betrayal toward the powers that be at WOWOWOW, you will have the insight to make the connection and put this format change in proper perspective.
This being said, we are all imperfect beings struggling to make meaningful connections in this world. I wish the best to you and have enjoyed reading your posts over the years, even the ranting posts were quite entertaining.

I did not get the impression that Brianna was feeling abandoned at all. I believe Brianna has a brilliant mind and would never feel abandoned by anyone, least of all WOWOWOW. I have always looked forward to her posts and many others for that matter as they were not afraid of what anyone else thought of them. Often they gave me courage to change my opinions and provoked my thinking in a entirely different light and that is what I saw as the value of this site. When I first started becoming involved with this site that was exactly what I found interesting and valuable. Over the past year esp. this site has not done that and I too believe it was purposefully done. If not purposefully, the message to me was that the people involved with the site had become either dellusional in believing that the average woman in this country gave a hoots you know what about some isolated island in the Carribean Sea or some hotsy boutique on 5th avenue, and if that IS the case then it should have been called NY women or some such thing.

In the past several months I have been very disapointed in not seeing some of the issues discussed that are very important to woman today. It seems that every attempt has been made to be too nicey nicey and avoid any and all controversy possible on this site. If that is indeed the case then it is a sad state of affairs for women. If that were the case when women were forced to have illegal abortions and died in back alley butcher shops or became forever infertile due to the infections they were left with we would still be in that situation. It was the women who were not afraid to speak out loudly and didn’t give a hoot about what anyone thought. Today in 2012 we are facing a election where there are those who want to turn the important issues such as the environment, the econonmy, the war (s) , the nations or unrest, the future of our core freedoms and safety into a attack on women. After all we have become easy targets and easy to take minds off those other little inconviences.

Wow could have been a wonderful platform to discuss those issues and yes hot topics. Fear of controversy? Heck, the world is filled with that. Instead they have taken us on tours of cleaning our closets, how our yards look, trips to the orient, and the like. What the heck? Is it any wonder that no one wants to be a part of that? In the end maybe the desicion to go to radio that is not free but something that society looks at as a necessity is a good one. I imagine there will be interest, but not mine. Thanks again for being here though, I enjoyed the site and meeting some great people along the way.

Well, LAWHIZ (curious, that particular user-name isn’t one I’ve seen before…going to an alias for a final little lecture?), how could you be any more condescending? Abandonment issues? Not a bit. If you have read my posts (I am so delighted you enjoyed the “rants”…which one’s qualified for that label, darling, in your small mind?) then you must know that I believe in honesty. And integrity.

And Joni, the dear, is being less than honest with her Constant Readers. And there is a certain integrity in telling said readers that you’re suffering from ennui and want to be rid of the lower castes, hence are exiling the intellectuals, thinkers and the writers in favor of style (and o, what style) over substance.

Why not admit that she and her cohorts want a name-dropping, ladies-who-lunch-at-fabulous-places, if-you-have-to-ask-you-can’t-afford-it, Manolo and Choo, we’re all slim and desperate-to-prove-how-youthful, flawless but-tasteful-we-all-are sort of It-Girl page for aging “Women of Substance”? Women of Substance is whom they claim Pure Wow is intended for, the darlings. Why not admit they look down their rhinoplasty-improved noses at us peons who come in different shapes, sizes, opinions and tell us “We think the peasants are revolting”?

I’ve always loathed the cheer-leader type, and the “boola-boola, rah-rah” for the “New! Exciting! Format!” that has appeared every time that Joni has announced another stage of putrefaction for this site. Also, as I told you, and since you apparently cannot read (well, so many of the newer readers…and a few of the more dense old-timers never could) I frequent many other sites. I also have a family, friends, books, music and it takes very little time to write my comments.

Well, since I’m at it, and I do sincerely hope that Joni and her ilk won’t block this post, here is the link to my blog-spot, on which I will finally be posting:

filthyworms.blogspot.com

Just checked the link, and it works. So for Lila, Baby Snooks, Rick Gould, Mary. Mr. Wow and all of the others I have missed, give me a few moments to breathe, and I’ll post…something. For those whose attention span is measured in fewer minutes than the number of fingers on one hand, or who think of other individual’s opinions as “hating” or anything over two sentences as a “rant”, please, do stay away.

Briana, you don’t know my name because this is the first time I have posted. But I had to tell you how much I support what you have said here today, and how much I have always appreciated your posts! I am probably 15 years your senior but I certainly can learn from the wisdom and wit that fill your so-called “rants” — which, by the way, I am always pleased to see because they so often bring a fresh perspective to me. I am an ex-pat New Yorker who has lived in Canada (teaching university) for 30+ years, so our experiences have been somewhat different, but I rarely disagree with your posts! I’ll be following your blog. Liz

I joined this site because I wanted to be involved in interesting discussion with other women. The women here largely represented a wonderful variety of views and opinions. Some got heated and there were many who left because there were other places to go where their opinions and views would not be challenged. I liked that there were disagreements and discourse because often times it did challenge me to investigate and explore my own thoughts and ideas. Be that as it may for some reason the word stopped getting out about this site and the ball seemed to drop.

I won’t repeat what others have said. I will miss many like Brianna and Lila, Joan, and many more.

We are facing some very interesting and concerning times as women and for Wow to vanish into the neverlands of the internet now is a shame. I know it is a time consumming and probably a cost issue, however, it seems to me that this is not a appropriate time to drop the ball. I have no control over that, but urge everyone to get together somehow and speak out against the political changes and if you don’t want to disagree with them get together and have discussion as to your views. It is what it is has become a common choice of words for not wanting to deal with issues and problems, this is not acceptable to one who has fought in the 60′s and 70′s for what we have come to today.

I will miss this site and I will miss the discussion and intersting topics. Of course I will continue to follow Liz, Margo and dear sweet Mr. Wow, Joan Larson and all the others who have contributed I am grateful for you all and grateful for the time I have gotten to know posters over the years. Thank you for that.

I just want to add, many of us do not live in areas accessable to Sirrus ( sp) radio and even if I did, I probably wouldn’t add that to my list of bills I want to pay. I also will not add another subscribed channel to cable. I do live in the country now and chose to live here because living is much easier. Often people who live in cities forget that there are those of us who continue to want to have discussions and contact with others like us but don’t want to be caught up in the expensive traps that we left the city for.

The internet was a wonderful tool to bring us all together, seems like that is changing.

Glad I checked back to learn about wOw’s latest platform. I wish you luck.

Frankly, my absence has been because I’ve missed the substantive discussions among all the intelligent women who became this sites favorite posters – Joan Larson among them. Conversations were invigorating as women shared varying points of view , which helped make wOw one of my favorite websites. Yet, over time, content seemed to ‘thaw’ and waver. Specifically, I’ve wondered why important news headlines/topics relevant to women’s issues ‘went missing’ during the past 18 months.

I no longer check in as I once did, and now spend time contributing to discussions on The New Yorker website. A favorite is John Cassidy’s columns titled, Rational Irrationality. I mention this only because Cassidy addresses issues which were similar to the the wide variety of topics we used to discuss here during wOw’s heyday. While I enjoy Liz Smith and Mr. Wow, I do miss the guest columnist, and the featured current events topics/articles which sparked lively conversations that kept us engaged.

Despite my disappointment, I THANK the women of wOw for their vision to launch this website, because I learn so much from a wonderful group of brilliant women.

The sites which are thriving now are the one source resource sites such as Pintarest, Facebook, etc.. which provide linkage rather than just limiting the content. I understand when business needs change the original objectives, though WOW has the foundation to be so much more in being established and having the following. With more doors opened to contributing and linkage, this site still has megabuck potential without collapsing.

In becoming a resource site, the expansion in readers and content is limitless.

Baby, the confusion is in the statement that first states that the foundation will remain, then states that links will be provided. I take it to mean that the site will not function other than to give us links. Maybe someone would clarify that for us.

Snooks, I’m wondering… with Mr. Wow establishing his own site because the new format won’t have a place for his column, albeit that he keeps his secret “Mr. Wow” identity … sounds like whatever change is coming, it’s pretty significant. So just in case – several of us have started a possible alternative hangout – click my name or avatar here to check it out. Not much yet, hopefully we can build it up.

I have only been a computer owner for about 3 years, thanks to Woopie Goldbergs rave about Wow on the view, I would have missed this experience completely. I love this site and all the people who take the time to contribute , some, on a daily basis. Joan, who answered most of my queries, Mr. Wow, Whom I adore for reasons I cannot begin to explain. Please don’t tell me that in an election year, we will not be able to converse on this site. Say it isn’t so!!!
Lila, keep us together somehow, I can’t afford another cable bill and I do not want to lose contact with my friends here on Wow.
Thanks to all.

Hi Mary . . . you can look me up on google as I write for NYTimes and for other sites as well now . . . and I love peterman’s eye.com for its excellence each day. I will miss all my wonderful friends made over the years on this grand site beyond words!!! Hope YOU are well!! Joan

Joan I WILL google you and look forward to reading more of what you share. As for me, I am busy experiencing many lessons of life. Winter always makes those lessons harder to learn ( at least for me) but the Spring lessens the sharp edges.

I, too, feel betrayed by the powers that be on Wow. Lately, as I tuned in day after day, seeing the row of amazing women along the header, women who had become silent, I grieved for the camaraderie and excitement that those women used to share here. I remember a tv show with half a dozen of the founders of the site talking about their hopes for it before it was even up, and see the last year or more as a major disappointment of those hopes, wondering why the faces were still there though those women were long gone. I think they dropped out as the site slid down into irrelevance. (My god, a daily horoscope featured alongside the best remaining columns?!) But I kept coming back for Liz, Margo, and dear Mr. Wow because another amazing group of people would regularly share their wisdom in comments. And now that will be gone, too. It has been a long time dying. It goes out with a whimper. I’ll always miss the early days.

I agree with much that has been said here by others. If this site is truly going “poof” then I will be very sorry. I have enjoyed the diverse but intelligent comments from women here. I especially enjoy reading well thought opinions that may not agree with what I think, and the fact that those opinions are expressed without rancor.

I too have wondered why WOW has not tackled some of the issues that are facing women today as I am very fearful of the attacks on women’s rights that I see coming from so many directions. I have been around for a few years and seen much of the “bad old days” first hand.

I will not be listening on the radio, even if it were free. One of the great things about the site is one can jump in when one has the time and catch up with the comments/stories/etc. I do hope the powers that be reconsider and keep this site in as much of its current format as possible.

The only place that I have satellite radio is in my car. My husband is not a fan of having a radio or television playing where he can hear it. His recent retirement will be an adjustment for us both.

I hope that WOW online will still be a viable means of communication for the WOW community. Hearing and learning from others is a wonderful way to expand our horizons with fresh points of view. I think that is almost ironic that Women on the Web will become Women of the satellite radio.

This forum was a mind saver to me during the years that I was caring for a father-in-law with dementia in my home. I could not get out during that time period so I looked forward to the posts and opinions of others. I am sure that it still meets that function for women without a way to express themselves.

I miss WOWOWOW of the past; almost every day I click on hoping to see the wonderful articles and discussions that were so familiar for a few glorious years. Life goes on, better or worse, and I do/will miss what was once available on “W”. Thank you for giving us this forum and hopefully there will be a viable replacement without having to turn on the radio.

I have to say that I missed the message on this. I saw a comment from Mr Wow, otherwise I would not have been interested in some special comment from Joni. So sorry to see the site go. I don’t listen to radio much. I work too much (I can find time to browse a site between conference calls or while waiting for a plane, but I’m not going to turn on a radio.) I am much more of a reader any way. I share the concern of several of the posters there that the initial enthusiasm of the sponsoring women seemed to have waned. Then the format changed. And now, …gone. so much for the power of women?

I was wondering any way. I don’t really relate to horoscopes. And bragging about expensive houses and vacations around the world by the “gypsy” person. I missed the lively discussions and interactions from the early days of the site. Too bad. I’ll look for somewhere else to get the women’s perspective of life and events.

Dear Wow poohbahs: On this Monday, I’m not up to composing original complete sentences, so I’ll pick the most salient points made by other wowees that reflect my view on this less than stellar “news.” Like Barbara, see below, I would have missed this had it not been for Mr. Wow.

Briana B.: In any case, the site has devolved into a shade of its former self.

Reggie: Personally, the radio program sounds dreary to me.

Deirdre: As for Mr. Wow, he means more to me than I can explain.

Chris G: I hope that WOW online will still be a viable means of communication for the WOW community.

Barbara: I have to say that I missed the message on this. I saw a comment from Mr Wow, otherwise I would not have been interested in some special comment from Joni. So sorry to see the site go. I don’t listen to radio much.

I am a Carnegie Mellon graduate in electrical engineering and hold several patents in my field. I am not an airhead. I am however, the sister of a brother who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and as a result, I have lived in close proximity to mental illness all my life. Please get some help! NAMI is a good place to start. I sincerely wish only the best for you.

LAWHIZ; I never said you were an “airhead”, I said you were an insufferable bitch. You sound as if you might be mentally ill…an Axis II disorder, which would be something on the order of borderline personality disorder, or narcissistic personality disorder.
Schizophrenia is treatable, your apparent conditions are not. I don’t live in a world in which I feel it necessary to randomly attack those I don’t agree with…but apparently you do. Who is mentally ill?

I think you should be seeking out the help of NAMI…although it is entirely plausible that there is nothing mentally abnormal or treatable about you whatsoever…you’re just a miserable, nasty, arrogant, immature bitch. You don’t have to be crazy to be a wretch…and you’re quite possibly living proof of that statement.

I have friends, a family, and a lot of people who seem to be willing to continue to visit with me posting on this thread. You’ve had one person besides me call you on your juvenile aggression…and no one issue an invitation to join them on another site. Your bitterness, bile and envy are showing.

Being a “Carnegie Mellon Graduate in electrical engineering”, even one with patents, is no guarantee, my dear, that you’re capable of reading anything beyond diagrams, papers, schematics, technical journals, project plans and scientific texts within your area of education. It also does not guarantee that you are not utterly incapable of relating to people, lacking in empathy, unimaginative or, ahem, “an airhead”. It also does not mean that you know anything about reality. I’ve known a lot of engineers and technical people in my time…some were brilliant at what they did, but couldn’t even relate to a plant, or read anything more complex than the funny pages, or understand the relevance of human issues in the world today.

Nor does having a brother who is schizophrenic make you an expert on mental illness. I always love the “I know a crazy person…so I know all about mental illness…”, as if one person is the example for all. I know a lot of people with mental illness, dear, and we’re all very different. Just like “garden variety” people. I have a lot of experience, not just my own, but dozens of other people. Give me a break.

Going to a prestigious, expensive, Ivy League college and getting a degree is no guarantee that you’re not dim, clueless, lacking and mentally healthy. What a typical, arrogant, specious reply to being hung out to dry.

Life is all about change and especially when we are talking business. In the area of websites and traffic, it is imperative that a site offer up the most broad manner of reaching a diverse audience as they can. That means taking advantage of all social media outlets, making sure your website flows correctly and is managed well, and that every medium is utilized. Sirius is the way to go these days, so I say yeah!

As someone that was here and supported the founders from the onset of the wowOwow site, I applaud all of the successes you have seen over the few years you’ve been online. You know more than anyone that you can’t please everyone. Ironically I have made the decision to blog less on this site because there isn’t enough content to discuss. It is a tad too streamlined for my tastes. But I’m sure you and your team have noticed with every subscriber that may leave, another enters. That is a good thing.

Thank you, Belinda Joy. There are so many special people like you, and Joan, and so many others who have made the site a delight over the years. And, we are not going anywhere really… who knows what direction we will grow in in the future? We are simply emphasizing the radio for now.
Yes, much of the change has to do with the schedules of the wOwers–everyone is busy doing new ventures (Candy on Broadway; Marlo on Huffington with her own dedicated site; Mary traveling around the world; Cynthia’s nightly reports bringing Nightline to #1) . But we stay loyal to each other, sisters all, and we are all excited about this next step.
And much of the change has to do with you and the Community…readers moving to Facebook, Pinterest, PureWow (I’m thrilled to say), news sites like the Daily Beast and HuffPo . Agree, we may have gotten thinner in content, but not so in our sisterhood.
Who knows where the radio will lead us? I just want to clarify that the site will be here, will be running and even if it is morphing/pivoting/changing.
I hope you’ll want to visit with us, hope you’ll contribute and interact, hope you’ll be a part of the change and help us make it anew.

Joni: I can only say that I somehow feel for a person who can only respond to the most blatant sycophant to post on the threnody to WoW’s passing…and the only reader whose most blatantly abusive personal attacks on others have never been contested by the moderators on this site. Ever.and whose ideals, ethics and mores seem totally out of sync, and even antithetical to a site supposedly dedicated to intelligent, critically thinking ***evolved*** women. I’ve always wondered if she is a closet contributor to the site, or a personal friend.

WoW didn’t lose it’s readership to Huff, or any other sites because people were flighty teenagers with the attention spans of gerbils…they left because WoW’s content become irrelevant, ridiculous, empty and vapid…something almost no one could relate to…and because the powers that be insisted on pandering to the most vacuous, incoherent, abusive and specious of readers’ comments. Apparently you don’t read your own site’s threads. Most of your intelligent, mature readership doesn’t use Facebook, or Twitter. This has been repeated endlessly for years.

Which doesn’t make those people Luddites, or behind the times. Substantive topics and a variety of issues was what this site guaranteed…and it devolved to how to surgically remove any signs of aging, how to dress in dull clothing and painful shoes, and how to squeeze your fat with shapewear so that no one would see you at less than your “best”. Ever. And pandering to the world of the Rich and Shameless. And articles that were so antithetical to a woman’s health and well-being that they were pathetic and shameful. I suspect that Marlo Thomas fled to Huff rather than be associated further with such a dull, meaningless trainwreck. I suppose it never occurred to you that an individual might read and post on several websites. I do, and I’m certain that others have this strange and wondrous ability as well, and have had so for some time.

As for Pure Wow…what, pray tell, is a “Woman of Substance”? The phrase means a wealthy woman of leisure to me…someone who indulges in the expensive (note I did not say “finer”) things in life. I have no interest in pricey lunches, name-dropping, couture clothing that is ugly, but o so IT, even more hideous accessories that would cost the same thing as a new, “green” car, $3000 shoes with a Name attached, celebutards and perfectly decorated ( by a decorator, not the owner) 7-figure homes. I suspect a lot of the women here have lives of their own that don’t require the inclusion of this nebulous and somehow static world. Yes, static…because the world of financial and social privilege never really changes at all at its heart…it only sheds its skin…just like a snake.

Best of luck Joni! I can appreciate your thoughts of keeping your movement a bit undefined rather than working from the perspective of even the next few years being already determined. Radio is huge, though what draws listerners in any format now is listening to experience rather than just filling their senses with data. The days of workshops and creating clones of the voice of another seem to be of the past, thank goodness. Keep it real and keep it new!

We will all have to brace ourselves for this big change at wowOwow that has been there for us and helped to set a trend for women bloggers. And that’s the good news because there are now a number of vital and relevant sites that cater to our demographic and answer our need to communicate, share and encourage each other. We’ve been compiling a blogroll on our blog that covers similar topics and engages commenters. I’m sure we’ll be bumping into each other often in the blogosphere going forward.